I've been thinking for several days about how to write this post. This site has been a substantial part of my life for over 7 years and as I look back on that, it's hard for me to sum up that time in a simple blob of text. But, for the sake of everybody's sanity, and to go easy on those prone to seizures, I've decided to forego the animated gifs I had planned and do the written word thing instead. And doing it this very moment allows me to steal Stylsy's thunder one last time. Huzzah!

First, let's get it right out of the way: Yes, I'm leaving Ritualistic, as well as Ritual Entertainment. Now, if you're hoping to bust out some popcorn in anticipation of a juicy story buried in a giant pile of dirty laundry, I'm sorry to disappoint. But let me try and explain the how's and why's anyway.

Ritual went through some pretty substantial transformations in recent months, stepping away from the kind of material that intially drew me to the company. I have no doubt that the games we'll see coming out of Ritual in the future will be twisted and put a few new spins on established conventions, but I had a hard time settling into this new world order.

A couple of weeks ago, another studio contacted me and asked if I was interested to shake multiplayer things asymmetrically, and as I reflected on that opportunity and the possibilities it was going to offer me, both personally and professionally, it was just too good a fit to pass up.

So, long story short, it's not you, it's me. Or something.

As for Ritualistic, this site is coming up on its 10 year anniversary and it makes me incredibly proud to see it reach that milestone. Other fansites have come and gone, but this one's stuck around. Sure, it's had its up and downs, as did Ritual, but overall I look back on those seven years with satisfaction and enjoyment. Ritual made some cool games during my time here and the community has always been great. We've had some colorful personalities stop by the boards and I met a lot of cool people and great new friends, including the Englishman below who really doesn't know wtf when it comes to livestock.

We've also had a lot of very dedicated staff members over the years who really helped turn this place into what it is. These guys don't get anywhere near enough credit, so I want to extend a huge "Thank You" to everybody who has invested their spare time into this site. I'm passing the torch on to two of them today - LeftE and Scarcrux - and they will continue to cover all things Ritual Entertainment and abuse people in the forums by giving them ridiculous titles and randomly deleting posts.

Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank the guys at Ritual. People like to throw "they're an incredible bunch of people" around while not really meaning it, but these guys really are incredible. Ritual was a fantastic and fun place to work at and I have nothing but fond memories. And though it's not always evident, they do read the boards very regularly to see what's going on in the community and what you guys are up to. So behave, you're being watched!@#

Anyhow, time to wrap this puppy up. Gentlemen, it's been an honor. I'll see you around.

Good thing I already registered on those forums so I don't have to say goodbye...
AGAIN DON'T MAKE ME CRY, CRY, CRY AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN
THE MORE I TRY
THE MORE YOU HURT ME, WHY... TELL ME WHY!
I CAN TAKE AN ASPIRIN FOR A BAD HEADACHE
BUT WHAT PILL FOR LONLINESS CAN I TAKE
I CAN SEE THROUGH YOU JUST LIKE CELLAPHANE
BUT I NEEEEEED YOU BABY!
LIKE A STAR NEEDS FAME!
YOU'RE NOT ANOTHER HABIT I'LL HAVE TO LEARN TO BREAK!
LET'S TRY TO PATCH IT UP BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE....
DON'T HAVE TO SAY, DON'T HAVE TO SAY, DON'T SAY GOODBYE
DON'T HAVE TO MAKE, DON'T HAVE TO MAKE, DON'T MAKE ME CRY!!!

So, you are leaving the ship, this board will miss you, but i can surely understand that, hopefully this isn't killing this forum, it deserves to stay on after all these years, i wish you the very best for your future doings. And i know yuo'll be lurking here, even you pretend not to be

What surpirces me is, that this site hasn't been renamed to Casualistic yet... Yeah, it kinda hurts to see this site going down, can't blame ppl though, since there isn't much to give at the moment, no Sin Episodes, no patches, actually nothing to discuss about ritual games, not even about usemp for SinE, since that is down too atm, based to the rumours i've heard about it. Well, life goes on and there are bounch of other games to play and only a very few games survives to keep ppl interested about them over an year. Still all this shit wasn't anything i wanted to see.

man, that just sucks. not just badman's departure, but the whole goddamn mess that has overtaken ritual.

it just occurred to me today that there hasn't been any new sin episode, or any news out of ritual at all lately, which prompted me to check out the goings on here. lordy.

i say without hyperbole that i consider this the end of an era in gaming.

learning that ritual was taking up the sin torch again was great, and this is a tremendous disappointment. now i feel kind of guilty for not buying emergence on release. (i hate the episodic gaming trend, i'd planned to just wait for them all and play them at once. i still havn't bought the half life 2 episodes either.)

sin did things that today, 8 years later, still aren't being done. even back with scourge of armagon it was obvious these cats were ahead of the curve.

and somehow, mysteriously, companies like raven whose design is literally trapped in goddamn 1997 continue to see apparent success, though i suppose my abject disdain of raven software is neither here nor there.

man, that just sucks. not just badman's departure, but the whole goddamn mess that has overtaken ritual.

it just occurred to me today that there hasn't been any new sin episode, or any news out of ritual at all lately, which prompted me to check out the goings on here. lordy.

i say without hyperbole that i consider this the end of an era in gaming.

learning that ritual was taking up the sin torch again was great, and this is a tremendous disappointment. now i feel kind of guilty for not buying emergence on release. (i hate the episodic gaming trend, i'd planned to just wait for them all and play them at once. i still havn't bought the half life 2 episodes either.)

sin did things that today, 8 years later, still aren't being done. even back with scourge of armagon it was obvious these cats were ahead of the curve.

and somehow, mysteriously, companies like raven whose design is literally trapped in goddamn 1997 continue to see apparent success, though i suppose my abject disdain of raven software is neither here nor there.